By DAVE SCHULTZ
The new city engineer will give her first update on city standards during Tuesday afternoon’s meeting of the Bluffton Board of Public Works and Safety.
The city’s construction standards have been up for discussion for several months. Developers have said that Bluffton’s standards are too strict and cumbersome, leading some city leaders to feel that those standards make the city non-competitive. In a tight housing market, that could create a problem going forward.
Kelly White began work Oct. 24 as the city’s first-ever city engineer, and Mayor John Whicker agrees that her hiring gives the city an in-house expert. The second item on Tuesday’s Board of Works agenda, under old business, is an update of a review of city standards — the first by White.
Whicker said something he’s repeated several times since White was hired — she will make the city better.
“She works well with the department heads,” Whicker said, “and she is not one to back down.”
Several other items of interest are on the agenda for the Board of Works and the Bluffton Common Council Tuesday. They include:
• A work session prior to the official start of the Board of Works meeting that will clarify matters in the structure of city rates. An effort is under way to consolidate rates into a city ordinance, Whicker said, and the work session will officially set up which rates were researched by the BakerTilly municipal finance firm and which ones were set up by the city without BakerTilly’s help.
“Five years from now, someone on the Board of Works will ask what methodology was used for these rates,” Whicker said. He indicated the work session will show everyone’s input.
• A Zoom meeting will be held with representatives of Frey Municipal Software to determine how to make the city’s website more user-friendly for utility customers.
• Rezoning requests that have been recommended by the Wells County Area Plan Commission will be considered during the Common Council meeting. Two land parcels on Bond Street and Lancaster Street could be rezoned for higher-density residential use and rezoning from residential to business has been recommended for a landmark house at 505 S. Main St.
daves@news-banner.com
